Medical malpractice has been known to cause traumatic birth injuries. For example, insufficient prenatal care and errors by medical providers during a baby's delivery, such as failure by a nurse or a doctor to notice fetal distress, can leave a child with a lifelong disability. Cerebral palsy and other kinds of birth injuries can also occur due to medical errors.

At Rosenbaum & Associates, our medical malpractice lawyers and top medical experts are proud of our commitment and ability to help clients discover whether medical malpractice errors were the cause of their child's birth injury.

Our medical malpractice lawyers are experienced at investigating and identifying a number of common medical errors that can occur during birth, including:

• Using vacuum or forceps improperly.
• Failing to properly observe and read fetal strips.
• Neglecting to perform caesarean surgery.

We are also experienced at understanding and evaluating any complicated medical issues that might have arisen during birth to see whether a malpractice error occurred.

Did Birth Malpractice Occur?

Of course, there are times when a baby's medical condition is caused by genetics. However, very often, life altering injuries that occur during birth are caused by a medical malpractice error.

For example:

1) Improper use of the vacuum or forceps during a baby's birth can lead to devastating brain trauma during delivery.

2) Fetal strips are used for monitoring whether there is fetal distress. If a nurse or the doctor does not read the strips correctly, he or she may fail to take action right away and a fetus may not get the oxygen it needs, which could lead to unnecessary yet severe brain damage.

3) Applying too much pressure to a newborn baby's skull can lead to brain trauma.

Common Birth Injuries:

• Erb's Palsy
• Brachial Plexus Palsy
• Cerebral Palsy

Even though speech and physical therapy can improve the development of a child who has sustained a birth injury, the effect of having a severe birth injury often lasts a lifetime.

How Does A Brain Injury Happen?

All body activities are coordinated and monitored by the brain. In order for the brain to correctly do its job, it must be able to properly receive oxygen. The term "traumatic birth injuries" refers to any unavoidable and avoidable anoxic and mechanical trauma that occurs to an infant's brain during delivery or while its mother is in labor.

Mechanical trauma usually occurs when something physically happens to the body—usually the baby's skull—that prevents the infant's brain from getting the oxygen it needs.

Anoxic trauma can happen when there is a decreased amount of oxygen in the infant's arterial blood supply. A respiratory obstruction, lower oxygen supply, and insufficient respiratory movements can lead to anoxic trauma and often to cerebral palsy.

To speak with one of our medical malpractice attorneys, call Rosenbaum & Associates today at 1-800-7-Legal-7. You can also contact us online for a free case evaluation. Our law offices are located in Philadelphia, and we represent birth injury clients and other kinds of medical malpractice clients throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey.